New wages for Newark Airport workers take off

The international arrivals terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport. (Julio Cortez / AP)

Pay for airport workers at Newark-Liberty Airport took off Thursday, when the new Port Authority’s new minimum wage took effect.

Workers at Newark will now get a $12.45 an hour minimum wage, up from the $10.45 they were receiving.

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That wage was out of whack with workers at airports in New York, which had a higher minimum wage. New York airport workers wages also went up on Thursday, to $13.60 per hour, from $13.

“These workers do vital jobs at some of the nation’s busiest airports and deserve decent wages that are the foundation of the middle class,” said Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU, the union that pushed for a higher minimum wage.

“Better wages will help reduce turnover in jobs that are key to maintaining safety and security at the airports and it happened because we came together in union.”

The minimum wage will reach $19 an hour at airports in both states in 2023.

"We work hard,” airport worker Shafequa Williams of Irvington, New Jersey, who works in Newark. “We can help pay more bills and do more four our families.”

The Daily News had highlighted the plight of low-wage airport workers who make air travel possible.

After years of pressure on the Port Authority, the agency in September approved the minimum wage hike that ended the disparity between New York and New Jersey airport workers.